Sailing with the Treleavens

Life is pretty good, bay hopping every day in 35 degrees, blue sky and little wind. The Bay of 12 islands is off Gocek, surrounded by hills covered in lush green pine trees, and is a very peaceful and beautiful place to cruise. It reminds us of the Bay of Islands in New Zealand.  We Med moor to the shore, that is drop anchor in 20-30 metres of water and then back to the shore to 4 metres and tie our stern too a rock or pine tree. This is bliss with boats everywhere of every size and nationality.

From Rhodes we crossed 30 miles to Turkey with spinnaker up in 20 knots and only taking half the time calculated. Just off the coast I decide I would like a photo of the Cadiz under spinnaker and try an Ian Mainsbridge photo from the dinghy. Well once again it's a story I can't tell but the spinnaker became 4. As Ian loves sending his charts you can now spot the point of no photo. Lunch was in silence but soon forgotten in a bay of pristine water, especially when we run into some Australians yachties from Newcastle Jill and Greg Burke and far too much Ouzo. Gulettes and yachts line the bay. Gulettes are the traditional wooden crafts of Turkey and are used as charter boats. They vary in size but normally have 6 doubles with a crew of three and cost A$ 460 per person per week all food included, very good value.

Fethiye the next morning to check into customs and another lot of paper work. Four different departments, some twice, four stamps and $170 later we have our transit log. The only consolation we have is the Pilot book says the worst place in world is Australia. Kevin leaves us here and we have a few days on our own so head south to Oludeniz (Blue Lagoon).       .

We chartered a yacht here 6 years ago with Juliett and Keith Piggin and Christine and Ken Allan and had the best time. Wanting to repeat some of the highlights we are not disappointed mooring off the island of Saint Nicolas with 20 Gulettes and its NZ and Aussie flags everywhere. This island has ruins tucked among the pines from the Byzantine Period (AD 330) and you actually tie to the ruins.

Oludeniz is one stop tourist holiday resort with paraponting from the top of the mountain down to the beach in a spectacular setting. The mountain is 2000 metres high and it can take up to an hour to glide down to the beach. An exhilarating experience. We did this 6 years ago and didn't repeat as it's a long time away from your boat. This part of the coast has developed a lot in 6 years and now has great marinas and naturally the prices to go with it. Gocek Marina has the cleanest clearest water we have been to in a marina (only place we have come across where you have to use your holding tank).Prices for a night are now Euro 40.

Jane and David from Spain met us here and we head out to the bays. Big decisions have to be made, is it Ruin Bay, Tomb Bay, Cleopatra's Baths, Santa Klaus island, ancient sites etc etc. It's relax time and enjoy swimming and bay hopping.

We are very pleased to see some marine life here this time even though they are small it's a start. You also get the feeling they are trying very hard at tourism with the best brochures we have seen from any country so far. Prices have certainly risen a lot but the service is here and you get value for money still. I like the exchange rate, getting millions of lira but reality hits when it costs half a million to have a pee.1000000 lira equals A$1.We were actually told before we got here by fellow cruisers that Greece is now cheaper than Turkey and we have found this to be the case.

Leaving the boat at anchor off the island of Delikli we transfer to an excursion craft into the Dalyan Delta. Winding through the river surrounded by bulrushes we visited the ancient harbour city of Caunos (600BC) now land locked and high on a cliff face the magnificent  tombs carved into the rock built for the Carian King and his family in the 4th Century BC. After a very hot day we head for Ekincik Bay and enjoy a very typical Turkish meal in a very nice restaurant frequented by the rich and famous.

Since arriving in Turkey we have only sailed 40 miles along the coast a pleasant change.

Get over here and charter your own boat, you won't be disappointed. The coastal history and enclosed bays to free anchor in, make this area one of the best cruising grounds in the Med.
 

Such a relief to now have cheap marina fees and set prices averaging $12 a night. The transit fee is now free but the paper work has remained and not only once on entry but every time you enter a port, taking hours of your time. There has been a big down turn in boats coming to the Greek Islands because of transit fees and paper work, they are also very aware that tourism is down and blame the change to the Euro and now the Olympics. We have missed the company of other yachts around but have enjoyed Crete even though it's no longer cheap ashore.

Iraklion the capital turns out to be a great stopping port contrary to the pilot book; we provision and have some fun with the night life bars. Here the dress code is tighter than tight so the men find lots to perve at.

Nick and Michelle leave us and Kevin arrives and can't wait to get out to sea. Eight miles out is a island called Dia and in the NE prevailing winds of 25 knots every day we are reveling in this. The island is very barren, in fact the whole of Crete is high and barren, we find a small inlet with one other Beneteau yacht on its way from England to Cyprus and they call out 'no Aussies allowed', but we drink their red wine and listen to their tall stories.

Another windy day and great sail to Nossos Spinalonga, a large shallow habour that turns out to be not such a great night at anchor. There are wind farms every where now, such an eye sore, with gusts coming off the mountains down the valleys it's an uncomfortable night. The wind farms should have been a warning to us. The harbour is beautiful and passes the Venation island of Spinalonga, once a leper colony and still very well preserved. We now know to pass by the wind farms.

Sitia our next port is small but very lively finding a local bar full of young locals enjoying Cretan food and rap Cretan music. Very memorable and well worth the visit called The Music Room.

The over sell of getting you into their numerous restaurants is very tiresome and Ian's response is, quote.
You won't to buy my T-Shirt sir?
Why you not wont my T-Shirt?      .
Maybe another colour?

If nothing else they do laugh.

Saturday the 12th (the only way I even know what day it is) we go in search of Palm Beach on the eastern end of Crete. The only palm tree plantation of 5000 palms in the Mediterranean, it's a needle in a haystack bay to find. The palms apparently came from Egypt in the 1500,s and survived due to the under ground river. Local name is Vai and its stunning and reminds us of home; we stay for the day and night and leave Crete from here to the Island of Karpathos 55 miles on route for Turkey.

These islands are known as the wind swept islands and get very few visitors, but today it is flat clam and we are motoring under brilliant blue skies. Stopping at the island of Kasos where no one lives we swim beneath cliffs in water that I can only describe as clear magic blue. Karpathos is great for the night and enjoy the local cuisine of stuffed zucchini flower and spinach pie. Goat is on the menu but I will have to think about that.

Our sail of 58 miles to the island of Rhodes is fast and soon swimming in the bay of Lindos under the Acropolis with its white Greek village, quite a picture. Getting Ian to put his foot on the brake and stay a day or two is quite hard but we manage to here as it's so beautiful. We were here 15 years ago with Janey and son Ian and remember saying at the top of the Acropolis, we will have to sail around here someday. The water is so clear and we anchor and put a line ashore. We are joined by another Australian, Jim Taylor's 30 metre yacht. It's very hot now an early climb is essential before a restful day. Hold it, I here the anchor being lifted.

It is interesting that the restoration work on the Acropolis undertaken by the Italians in the 1930s already has to be restored yet the original surviving structure built in 200 BC is still going strong.

Our sail to Rhodes is in a very fresh warm breeze of 30 knots, Kevin at the helm and loving it. Here we will stay 2days and cross to Turkey tomorrow where friends from Spain Jane and David join us for a week.
 
 

The plan is to leave late in the afternoon of Thursday the 3rd June and arrive sometime Saturday. Its 480 miles and we always plan to arrive in daylight according to the forecast. We hoist the spinnaker in 15 knots of breeze and settle down to drinks and toast the soon disappearing Maltese Islands. The sunset is fabulous and we soon start our single hourly watch plan through the night. For a short while the sock on the spinnaker is pulled down but the spinnaker stays hoisted. The wind fills in and out goes the spinnaker and doesn't come down for 2 days.

We cross the deepest part of the Med at 4300 metres and it is the most beautiful deep purple blue colour. The moon is full and very bright so makes the night seas interesting.
For the two days we see very few ships and no other yachts.

Memorable moments apart from the fine dining, wine, good company and old school stories .We pass a large object and decide to circle. It's attached to a very large rope in 3000 meters of water and also circling it is a shark. There goes our perception of no sharks in the Med. A very airy sight and sail on. We have very few dolphins but one lot came as a surprise and gave us a great show leaping 3 meters into the air. Also out on the horizon a large ship with a huge wake is sighted and I comment through the binoculars its looks like one of those ferry things they build in Tasmania. So Ian calls her up on the VHF radio, Tim the XO responds and sure enough it is US Army, the USS Spearhead and was built by Incat in Hobart.  Small world as Tim knows Rowdy (Stephen McCullum) from Incat very well. Rowdy sailed 2 Hobarts with Ian on Merit .We had also seen Spearhead in Sydney during her sea trials. She is big and fast and is soon out of sight. Funny how things happen, we have no one come near us and when they do we have a connection.

Our guests are too comfortable so 15 hours still to go the wind comes on the nose and builds up a sea. The girls head for their bunks and the boys love this crashing and rolling stuff. It's now baked beans and cornflakes on the menu and by morning Crete is in our sights. Winds abate and its time for steak and eggs and enter the port of Chania. Crete with its high 2500 metre mountain range is baron, sandstone colour and blue Med Sea. Chania is a Venetian seaside town with lots of character and too many tourists. We tie up to the old sea wall lined with restaurants over looking the Venetian built stone light house still in use.

The weather is now settled and we are looking forward to finding bays and anchoring out. We sail east along the northern side of Crete and find paradise in a cove called Lautarki with one taverna on the beach and we are the only boat. Dinner in the next bay of Marathi, a local Cretan fishing beach side resort its octopus, shrimps, horta (green veg), stuffed tomatoes and Greek salad. Beautiful white sandy beach, a refreshing swim off the boat, we expect this for the next 4 months.

Motoring to Rethimno its flat calm and visit what the book tells us is the most beautiful port in Crete. A few hours is enough and motor on to Iraklion , the capital of Crete, and according to the pilot book not a very attractive place. We find it interesting and have learnt to make our own judgement. We find a tight space in the old Venetian port with the original galley sheds overlooking us. We finally get customs clearance here after the two previous ports found it too difficult. After two hours of officials in three different departments Ian finally was issued with the Transit Log and was pleasantly surprised to find there was no charge. Despite the bureaucracy if you read Jimmy Cornells World Cruising Handbook you will find that it is more difficult for visitors to enter Australia

Nick and Michele leave us here to return to their Camel Touring business in Alice Springs and Kevin Horne from the CYCA and Wildthing will join us for 7 days. We are heading for Turkey and then back into the Greek Islands.